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One day this week some dogs got onto the place and one, a basset hound, got a hold of one of the guineas, the whitish one. I’m surprised a basset hound could catch a guinea but other than the loss of some feathers it was not injured. It did spend the rest of the day and much of the next in guinea tower sulking. It eventually emerged, though, and seems none the worse for wear.
Chris is in the process of having an automatic gate installed. Right now we play gate tag. Chris and Joyce like to keep it closed to keep the guineas in and the dogs out. Kari and I don’t like having to stop and open and close the gate as we come and go in our vehicles. The new gate will be chain-link like the fence and will roll back and forth rather than swing in and out. It will be powered by a garage door opener motor and remote control. Barring some unintended consequences, it should be an improvement.
Joyce and I brewed beer last Saturday. I visited Amarillo Brewing Supply a day or two before and purchased a kit. After talking to Dave about his brewing, I realized I had just about all the equipment necessary for the process. With the exception of the bottles and a device to cap them once filled, the process is similar to making wine and uses most of the same equipment. Rather than squeeze grapes, however, brewing beer starts with boiling up the combination of flavoring grains and malt extract to make what’s called wort. Yeast contained in the kit along with the other ingredients is added to the wort and left to ferment for a week or so. Though all the fermenting can be done in one step, I’ll use the recommended two-step process by transferring the initial fermentation to a glass carboy, just as I do with wine, for a secondary fermentation. After a few weeks I’ll bottle the brew and we should have something tasty to drink. Unlike wine which takes a couple of years to fully develop, beer only takes a few weeks. I’m looking forward to sampling the end product.
One night recently I dreamed about rabbits. In the dream I ran across a cottontail on SA and I was delighted since we’ve had none around for a number of years. it’s pretty sad when an old coot gets to the point where he dreams about rabbits. At least it wasn’t a black rabbit.
Our weather has moderated from last week’s unpleasant cold. I hoped to start watering trees on the north end but I had to wait until early afternoon before the hoses were thawed enough to allow water through them. Even though it’s warmer than last week, that doesn’t mean it’s warm. Need I say we’ve gotten no moisture.